


Effects of Stress

by BumbleBooty



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Panic Attacks, Quentin needs a nap, laurie is a good mom, someone help this boi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 12:39:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16387898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BumbleBooty/pseuds/BumbleBooty
Summary: Quentin has a breakdown after a bad nightmare.





	Effects of Stress

**Author's Note:**

> I recently remembered a panic attack my ex had back when I was in highschool, and I felt like Quentin would have a similar experience. So naturally I must make the best boi suffer.

Quentin sometimes wished he wasn’t one of the youngest survivors. The ‘tender’ age of 17 wasn’t that big of a gap compared to Jake’s 21, or Claudette’s 20, but  _god_ did it matter when Bill or Ace tried to play father figure with him. 

 _Especially_ when he was having a panic attack.

Like now, when he was trying to gather himself after a rather bad nightmare- curse whoever decided to hide his caffeine pills this time!- he had two worried faces pressed  _far_ too close into his personal space. The sunglasses-clad man was telling him to ‘just breathe!’while the usually friendly officer tried to bat Ace away, simultaneously attempting to distract him with questions regarding his birthdate and where he was from.

If it was just Tapp, Quentin thought he would have been fine. But with Ace so close-  _god so close to_ ** _touching him_** ** _with those long thin fingers oh god_** _-_

He would be embarrassed later by the reflexive yelp that occurred when Laurie and Nea pulled the two away forcibly, making a wall with their bodies and forcing the rest of the group back a few steps with their presence alone. Their angry glares and fingers against their lips were enough to silence the more vocal members of the group, but there were a few mutters going on- namely Jake and Dwight quietly talking over the recent trial with Claudette. 

Even with the blissfully casual air around the more experienced trio, the two men still allowed their eyes to trail over to the growing group in case they were needed for further crowd control. Claudette just kept rummaging in her various medkits, pointedly searching for something- thankfully she wasn’t staring at him, not pinning him down with her disappointed eyes, god why couldn’t he just stop freaking out?!

Quentin just pressed his face closer to his knees, his face a burning contrast to the rest of him as the sound of each of his ragged breaths rang over their campfire like gunshots in an empty parking lot. He could feel his chest expanding, but he couldn’t feel the bite of the chilly air the Entity gave them to breathe. When Laurie carefully knelt down- thankfully out of arm’s reach, and the lack of burning body heat washing over his skin  _almost_  let his throat open once more- her voice was calm and quiet. 

It was strangely...  _soothing..._ as it broke through his fear-induced hysterics. “Tell me about Nancy. What is her hair color?” 

It took him several seconds to process the question, but eventually, the familiar name broke through the static in his mind. Trying to get the words out of the mouth full of tingling cotton was difficult, but managed to stutter out ‘b-brown’.

 _God,_ he sounded  _pitiful_. How would he ever look Laurie in the eyes again? She must think he’s so pathetic for losing it like this over a stupid dre-

“What about her eyes?”

 Why was she still here? Wasn’t she annoyed that she-

“Quentin. What is her eye color?”

He barely managed to lift his head, tired eyes locking onto understanding blue ones. 

Laurie just tilted her head in a chillingly familiar way, repeating her question with the same soothing tone and a disarming smile that slowed his pounding heart ever so slightly.

“B...Blue...” 

Laurie smiled, and Nea started bobbing her head to an invisible beat from where she sat with her back to him. 

Quentin’s eyes locked onto her back as her sides inflated and deflated, and he found himself strangely mystified by how calm she was with him trying to drag air into his wheezing throat behind her. A quick glance down tracked a strange movement in his peripheral- she now had her hand just within reach but refused to acknowledge him in any other way.  

Eventually, Quentin had realized that Laurie had been quiet for a long moment and he pried his eyes off Nea’s back. Looking over to the appointed mom of the group showed that she was pointedly looking at Detective Tapp, her mouth moving with silent syllables. Quentin quickly realized she hadn’t been quiet- he had been too out of it to hear her voice, and apparently, that worried the approaching officer. 

The older man was absolutely mystified, taking slow, cautious steps as Quentin’s rasps continued to slow to shuddering- but full –breaths.

...When had his throat started working again?

“You getting better Quen?” With his mind painfully quiet now, he nodded as a response to Nea’s question. His chest hurt and his throat was raw, but it was all ignored by the trembling he couldn’t seem to stop. He drove his eyes to the dirt as he tried to avoid the undeniably disappointed looks, but Nea quickly picked up on the growing cloud of shame. 

“Did I ever tell you about my first tag?” -Yes, but the words didn’t make it out before she continued.- “So, this one time, back before we moved to America...”

Then she was going on some prattle about hiding from the cops in some building for the who-knows-how-manyth time.  Laurie carefully sat beside him, helping to peel locked fingers away from his pantlegs after getting a nod of approval. He barely paid attention to the story, but deep down he appreciated the normalcy. 

Normal wasn’t angry or disappointed. 

Normal wasn’t judging him for being unable to keep his emotions contained.

Normal wasn’t Freddy’s harassment or hands.

With his legs finally free to stretch out, Quentin pulled his jacket around him to try to chase away the nervous chills as Detective Tapp lingered on the outskirts of the small grouplet until the end of Nea’s story. With the rest of the group talking amongst themselves once more- bless Dwight for pulling Kate and the other stragglers into a conversation- the officer settled on his open side. Ace joined Nea as she turned around to face the small gathering.

“You okay now?” Tapp’s voice was so sincere it made Quentin’s cheeks burn. “Y-” He had to clear his throat, giving an apologetic look for half a second before focusing on some grass to pull. “Yeah. Just... Just got myself all freaked out is all.” Nods went around the group, and Laurie was the quiet guardian that made sure he had his personal space while the last of the pressure fled his body.

“It’s fine Quentin, we’ve all been there. I’m willing to bet someone filched your pills too- you were asleep for a good while before we noticed you were having a nightmare.” Nea frowned and nodded her agreement as Quentin admitted to the loss. “Yeah... they’ve been gone for a while now. I thought I could find them before I crashed, but...” He waved it off with a nervous chuckle, wiping his eyes when he realized his cheeks were wet. 

Ace immediately reached forward to help, freezing up when Quentin flinched and pressed himself against the bark of the tree he had pressed himself against during his breakdown. Laurie’s hand circled Ace’s wrist in a vice-grip, and Quentin shook himself of his immediate reaction. “S-Sorry Ace. I just- I can’t-” He would beat himself up over how his voice had cracked later, but for now Ace’s sheepish grin accompanied his hand returning to his lap calmed him slightly. 

“It’s okay, I’m sorry Quentin. I didn’t think about not touching ya, I just don’t like seein’ ya all upset... I don’t mean to spook ya.” He pointedly folded his hands in his lap as Quentin took deep breaths. “I-… It’s fine Ace. I’ll... be okay in a minute.”  Even though he could still  _feel_ the other’s eyes behind his sunglasses, Ace turned his face to Laurie. “So, where did you learn to calm people down like that?”

“I babysat a little girl once with ‘probable’-” she used the beloved air-quotes with a scowl, and Quentin failed to bite back a laugh at her obvious distaste for the word. “- Panic Disorder. I don’t like how they wouldn’t diagnose her, but the doctor wanted to bounce her between specialists. But either way, I can save my opinion of that particular doctor for later...” Ace laughed, grinning as he plopped his chin onto his palm. “Lookin’ forward to that!”

“ _Anyway_ , I couldn’t get the doctor’s recommendations to work, so the next time we had a minute I asked her what she did to pull herself out of her episodes. She  _told_ me how to help her, and I just kinda stretched to apply it to Quentin.” The soft smile once more pushed away the bad feelings that roared within him. “You two are really similar, so I thought it might help a little- the only difference is I thought Nancy would be a better distraction than yourself.”

Detective Tapp nodded his approval.  “I got a slight education on it in the academy, but it was still something they didn’t talk about too much. I know about the obsessive thoughts, and I know the signs of a panic attack, but they never really bothered to tell us what to do to help someone through one.” Ace gave a one-shouldered shrug, giving him a lopsided grin. 

“I dunno shit about them, but it looked like you needed a hug... or CPR. Whichever came first.” Quentin let the short laugh burst free from his chest, covering his face with his hands as Nea playfully bumped his shoulder with her fist. “Awwww, is Ace getting  _that_ desperate for some affection?”

The look on Ace’s face was absolutely priceless, and laughter rang out around the camp as the Swede was promptly chased and administered a noogie. Claudette took the moment of distraction to hand him a small baggie of pills- his emergency stash he had asked her to keep back, he had completely forgotten about it!- with a soft smile. Jake and Dwight were mysteriously gone from view entirely, probably having slipped off into the woods at some point. 

The next chunk of time passed quickly as he finally worked through the last of the nervous flutters, no doubt having the extra energy from his pills coursing through him accelerating the process, and he was finally able to take the few steps to fully rejoin the campfire. The warmth was welcome to his chilled skin, but he couldn’t help but jump when a heavy jacket was dropped over his shoulders. 

David stood just behind him, looking as nervous as a deer in fall. “Ya look cold.” Quentin simply nodded, taking the gesture as it was meant and slipping his arms through the sleeves. Nea’s crouched form slowly stepped closer and closer until she was tucked into his side, grinning like a maniac and beaming with her accomplishment. Laurie followed shortly after, and Quentin took a deep breath to center himself. 

This group was definitely a handful, but he wouldn't trade them for anything.


End file.
